Nineteenth Century Poverty In America

Nineteenth Century Poverty in America In his article “Poverty”, Michael B. Katz, a social historian and Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, compares the causes and effects of poverty in America during the early and mid-1800’s. Katz points out how the main cause of poverty during that time in history was mainly due to people being employed by someone else. Katz points out that although industry was growing, there were more people available to work than there were jobs. Because the jobs were scarce and were often times seasonal, many people were unemployed more often than they worked. When they did work, the pay was so low that they were unable to save any money for the times when they were unemployed. During those times, they would have to rely on the help of family or “poorhouses,” or even charities.
There was also the problem of transportation, Katz explains, which was not affordable for most people. Therefore, many people had to look for work close to home. Most of the time, there were not any jobs available close to home and many people were forced to move to where there were jobs. It was very expensive to move and so much of the time it took all of the money that the person had to make the move. Once they arrived at their destinations, they had no money for a place to stay or for food. Many would roam the streets looking for help from others; they would beg or even steal.
Adding to the problem was immigration. Folks immigrated over to America, probably with the hope of a better life, only to find themselves out of money and without jobs.
Until I read this article, I would have never thought that employment would have been the main cause of poverty. I think that Katz did a fine job explaining the way that industrialization first began to change our country, for the worst in my opinion. Once factories came into the picture, there was